Hate or Love?
by sofiaagron
Summary: What will happen when you think you know everything but in the end you realise you actually don't? Will you accept it and pursuit it? Or ignore it and live your life not knowing what might have happened if you had chosen to say yes?
1. Chapter 1

An auburn haired girl stared at the big white house and sighed.

"How am I suppose to survive this night without going insane?!"

The girl closed her small blue-green eyes and ran her fingers through her long hair.

_ 'Why did they invite him to dinner? Oh right... he's their ''friend''. Ugh, just stay as far away from him as you can and everything will be okay... I think...'_

She rang the bell and waited for an answer. Moments later, the door opened and her cousin Lily appeared.

"Hi" she said awkwardly.

"Rose?" Lily called "Finally! I thought you decided not to come!"

"Yeah... sorry I'm late" Rose smiled sheepishly "I couldn't find -" she tried to explain but her cousin interrupted.

"I don't care! Come in, dinner's almost ready. It's lasagna, hope you like it" she smiled and started walking to the kitchen "They're all in the living room."

"Oh, okay, do you need any help?" Rose asked.

"Nah... it is almost ready, but thank you anyway." Lily said smiling like a little girl on Christmas "Go on, I'll call everyone when it's done" she entered the kitchen and screamed to her cousin "Get out on my kitchen Hugo! Stop trying to eat all the food!"

Rose laughed at her brother's luck "You better get out if you don't want to face Lily's wrath" she warned while laughing.

"But... I'm hungry!" he pouted.

"I don't care! Just go, shooooooo" Lily said pushing him out of the kitchen.

"Fine, I'll go play upstairs since you all want me to starve!" he sighed dramatically causing Rose to laugh harder.

"Oh, you poor thing..." she said with sarcastic worry. Hugo huffed and stormed upstairs.

Lily shook her head at her cousin and walked back into the kitchen with a ghost of a smile on her lips. Rose then walked towards the living room that was at the end of the hall lost in her thoughts _'Please don't be here yet... oh god, that's his voice!'_

She stopped on the doorway of the rather big living room, scanning it to avoid a certain person...

The walls were a burgundy colour, contrasting with the white celling, while the floor was dark wood. In the center, there was a glass table with two beige sofas on each side of it, a marble fireplace behind framed by the walls and the paintings on each side aligned with both sofas. James and Scorpius sat on the left one while Albus sat on the opposite. Rose trailed her eyes back to Scorpius making him smirk at her face.

_ 'Stop smirking... just st-'_ her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed her cousin Albus Potter waving his hands in front of her face.

"Rose? Rose! Is someone in there? Where are you staring at?" he asked turning around to look at where she was staring.

_ 'Oh no, he can't notice that... say something Rose!'_

And, before he turned completely, she distracted him by talking to him "Han? Oh sorry, I was... thinking" she said while her eyes stared back at Scorpius to see his smirk widen with pleasure in seeing her uncomfortable.

"Yeah, I kind of figured that one out." Al said smiling "Anyway, are you going to join us or stand in the middle of the doorway?" he asked sitting again and patting the sit on his left. Rose smiled and sat beside him looking directly at Scorpius.

"So Rose, what took you so long to get here, han?" James, Al's and Lily's older brother, asked curious.

"I couldn't find something really important" she answered cryptically.

"Courage, perhaps..." Scorpius mumbled but Rose heard.

"What was that?" Rose asked him narrowing her eyes.

"Oh nothing..." he answered with his signature arrogant smirk.

_ 'Oh how I hate you Malfoy. Why can't you just keep your mouth shut?'_

"What would be the fun in that?" he asked provoking her.

_ 'How?... Wait, did I just say that out loud?! Oh god...'_ she thought with wide eyes. Scorpius smirked and gave her a look that clearly said 'Oh yes you did'.

_ 'If you want to be that way, fine. I'll give you to smirk at'_ she thought smirking herself.

"And... it begins..." Al said while James sighed "Here we go again".

"You know, _Malfoy_, the world would definitely be a better place if you knew how and when to shut up. No one was talking to you" Rose said "But, did that ever stop you before? Of course not..." she stood up rolling her eyes.

"It's amazing how you know me so well Weasley" he answered winking at her.

"Fuck you" she said loudly and started walking towards the kitchen.

"Only if you help" she heard him say "Wouldn't you like to help a friend in need?" he continued causing her to stop on the doorway and turn to face him.

"Sorry to disappoint you but you're _not _my friend. Not even close, so you can keep trying..." she turned around and resumed her path to the kitchen where she didn't have to look at his face.

"I will, thank you for the advice, _friend_" he called from the living room where Albus and James were watching the 'show' with their mouths open.

"I thought you said you weren't going to argue with her again! Seriously, I can't take it anymore! This is getting out of hand!" Al confessed standing and pacing up and down the room.

"Just calm down okay? Jeez, you're making me nervous!" James complained rolling his eyes "But he's right Scorp, that was a little too much".

"I said I would _try_" Scorpius started "Besides, she is the one to blame! I'm an innocent victim..." he exclaimed, smirking when he remembered how this whole mess started...

* * *

_ Scorpius was walking down the street after work when he ran into someone._

"_Huh, sorry! Oh it's you..." Rose Weasley said frowning at him._

"_Don't be mean Weasley, you really hurt my feelings!" he said putting his left hand above his heart pretending to be hurt._

'I didn't know she had returned from her little trip to Venice'_ he thought confused why Al hadn't told him that his favourite cousin was in town._

"_Whatever..." she said walking away "It was not nice to meet you again!"_

"_Likewise" he said smirking and resuming his path down the street._

(...)

_ A few weeks passed by without any trouble. That is, until that day when he visited Albus. He rang the bell and, imagine his surprise when, Rose opened the door._

"_Malfoy, what are you doing here?" she asked surprised._

"_Al called, he said he needed to talk to me, that it was urgent. What are you doing here?" he retorted._

"_I'm his cousin, duh!" she opened the door so he could come in "Al is in his bedroom, I'll be in the kitchen with Steve if he needs me, okay?" the red-haired said._

"_Hum, who's Steve?" Scorpius asked curiously._

"_My boyfriend..." she answered like it was obvious, walking away._

'What can they be possibly be talking about that is taking them so long?!'

"_Rose? Are you listening?" her boyfriend Steve said._

"_Huh? Sorry, I was thinking about something... but anyway, what were you saying?"_

"_I have to go now, some emergency with work..." he explained._

"_Oh okay, good luck then" Rose smiled and grabbed Steve's hand, both standing up and walking to front door._

"_Bye Steve, I'll call you later okay?" Rose asked opening the door. He placed a hand to her cheek, leaning to kiss her and Rose kissed him back. Some seconds later he pulled back "Sure babe, I'll be waiting." he said walking out the door. Rose tried not to flinch at the ridiculous nickname and closed the front door sighing._

_ After Scorpius left Al's bedroom, he heard Rose say goodbye to her boyfriend and the sound of the front door close. Then, he frowned. Everything was quiet... _'Maybe she left with him...'_ he thought while walking down the hallway towards the front door. Suddenly, Scorpius felt himself being pulled inside a dark room, where the only light was from the hallway, and pressed against the wall by Rose._

'What the hell ?!'_ he thought but, before he could voice it, she kissed him like her life depended on it. Scorpius opened his mouth trying to talk, but Rose took advantage of that and deepened the kiss, pressing him harder between her and the wall, both of them moaning from the contact._

'Wait, is this really happening? Well, I should enjoy it while it lasts...'_ Scorpius snapped out of his thoughts and turned them around, this time being Rose against the wall, never breaking the kiss. It wasn't soft or sentimental, not at all, it was raw and deep and aggressive, the attraction between them clear in it. He took her hands in his and held them above her head, broke the kiss and started nibbling, kissing and licking his way down her neck to her collarbone._

_ Rose moaned as he nibbled on her pulsing point and trailed his mouth to the valley of her breasts while grabbing the back of her thighs and lifting her so she could wrap her long legs around his waist. Rose moaned louder and tugged at Scorpius' blond hair to kiss him again as he groped her wherever he could._

'Oh god, that feels so good, why haven't I tried it before?'_ she moaned _'Wait, what am I doing?! No, no, no, NO! Not with him! For god's sake Rose, you have a boyfriend!'_ she thought coming back to reality, pushing him away and staring wide eyed "Why did you do that?!"_

"_Excuse me?! You're the one who grabbed me and kissed me like there was no tomorrow! I'm an innocent victim..." Rose blushed at Scorpius' comment "Now, I always knew you were attracted to me, but damn..." he smirked and suddenly Rose felt furious "You're a bastard! That was a mistake, a simple one-time thing!"_

"_Sure, keep telling yourself that, someday you might actually believe it..." he answered sarcastically._

"_Huh, you're insufferable!" she huffed._

"_And you are a glorious kisser..." he retorted smiling at her uneasiness._

"_Shut up! Weren't you leaving?" she offered him a sarcastic smile._

"_I was... before you started kissing me..." he answered in a very low and deep voice._

"_Oh shut it! Don't mention this to anyone, do you hear me?" she narrowed her eyes, her lips forming a thin line._

"_I'll think about it... See you around!" he said smiling and leaving Rose alone in the huge guest bedroom._

"_Oh no you won't!"_ _She screamed but stopped when she heard him laugh, then a door closing._

* * *

"Scorpius? Scorpius! Hey, I'm talking to you! Or, at least trying to..."

"Sorry, I just remembered something..." he smiled "but, what were you saying?"

Albus sighed "I said: I hope you try harder. At least don't provoke her, okay? She already has a lot to worry about..." he continued lowering his eyes to the beautiful carpet under his feet.

Scorpius frowned and was about to ask for more details but Lily screamed "Dinner's ready!"

Dinner was pretty intense between Rose and Scorpius (since she glared at him every five seconds while he smirked all the time) and awkward for Lily, Albus, James and Hugo. Well, maybe it was only awkward for Lily and Albus since James and Hugo were busy devouring the lasagna...

"Sister, this lasagna is delicious!" James said to Lily.

"Thank you James. Just don't eat everything, some of us may want more!" Lily warned him then looked at Hugo who was stuffing more lasagna in his mouth "Ew, that's gross Hugo!"

"What? But it's so good!"

"I totally agree with Hugo!" James said and both did an high-five.

"You finished all the lasagna! Not fair, I wanted more!" Rose pouted.

"Me too! You two are so selfish sometimes..." Albus declared and looked at her sister expectantly.

"What? No, I'm not cooking again, I'll bring in the dessert." she sighed standing up and walking to the kitchen.

"I've got an idea!" Scorpius said making everyone look at him in hope "Rose can cook something, right Rose?" he looked her in the eyes smirking arrogantly "She's a great cook, you know?" he asked wiggling his eyebrows and Rose's eyes widened in shock while everybody looked at her, then at Scorpius, then at her again with their mouths wide open. Even James and Hugo stopped eating.

"Huh and how exactly do you know that? Rosie says she hates to cook..." Hugo raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"It's true, she says it all the time." Lily said narrowing her eyes at him, putting the dessert on the centre of the table.

Rose looked around her to see everyone looking at them suspiciously then at Scorpius' eyes and remembered that critical day...

* * *

_ Not even a week later after the "incident" at Al's house, Rose entered her favourite pub and found him sitting on a booth looking down at his drink. As if sensing her presence, his green eyes looked up and found hers. She inhaled deeply and walked towards where he sat and the blond smiled._

"_Hi, mind if I sit?" she asked politely._

"_Not at all" he gestured for her to sit in front of him and Rose obeyed the request._

"_So," she started "what happened to make you sit here drinking all alone?"_

"_Rough day at work, nothing interesting..." he answered annoyed "What are you doing here?"_

"_Hey, no need to be rude, I was only asking!"_

"_You're right, sorry, I just... it was a frustrating day..." he looked down ashamed._

_ Rose gasped and looked at him shocked._

"_What?" he asked worried._

"_I can't believe it! Scorpius Malfoy said he was sorry and that I – Rose Weasley, your mortal enemy – was right?! It must be the end of the world..." she mocked him with laughter in her eyes._

"_Ah ah, very funny..." Scorpius said annoyed but smiled nevertheless. They looked at each other and started laughing so loud that the others glared at them._

"_We should leave before they kick us out" Rose suggested after regaining control of her breathing._

"_Yeah, we should" he smiled then stood up, helping her stand and both walked out of the pub._

(...)

_ Rose woke up to the sound of birds singing and something trailing up her spine. She shivered and hummed when it touched a sensitive spot._

"_Good morning love..." a voice welcomed her and she started smiling but froze when she realized to whom that voice belonged to. In that moment, she realized two crucial things: 1) it belonged to Scorpius; 2) she was naked, with him, in a bed, barely covered by satin sheets. "Glad you finally woke up, not that watching you sleep naked next to me after a night of hot steamy sex isn't entertaining... but I'm hungry and I don't know where all the things are, so..." he confessed and looked ate her expectantly "... get up, come on!" he stood up, in all his naked glory while she blushed and covered her eyes with her hands. Scorpius laughed at her gesture crawling back to bed with a predatory smirk and taking her hands in his "Hey, open your eyes." Rose shook her head no "Oh come on, don't act like a prude now!" she opened her eyes and opened her mouth to protest, but Scorpius beat her to it "I'll make this simple for you: we get up, you cook breakfast, we eat and I leave without talking about this to anyone, deal?" he suggested._

_ She smiled "Fine..."_

* * *

_ 'Oh shit, what am I going to say now?! Think Rose, think!'_

"Al, remember when I told you about Lyra's party last weekend?" Rose tried to come up with a believable excuse to cover her secret 'affair' with Scorpius.

"Yes..." he answered not understanding.

"Well, I found him there." she answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Everyone frowned, still confused and waiting for an explanation.

Rose sighed rolling her eyes "Apparently Lyra thought it was funny to invite Scorpius to her birthday party, just to spite me"

"That does sound like something Lyra would do!" Lily laughed shaking her head at their friend.

"Doesn't explain how he knows you're a good cook" Hugo complained.

"Fine, Jeez!" she rolled her eyes "Mrs. Bianchi asked me to help her in the kitchen since I was the first one to arrive, then Lyra complained because her mother wasn't helping her decorating and I ended up cooking. As simple as that!"

"That's it?! No shocking revelation?! I'm disappointed!" James pouted then started eating the chocolate cake Lily had brought from the kitchen.

_ 'If only you knew...' _Scorpius thought while laughing on the inside at Rose's flustered face.


	2. Chapter 2

_ Hi! So here's the chapter 2, hope you like it. There will be an author's note at the end of this chapter because I didn't want to make this one too long at the beginning._

_ I didn't know if I should contain a disclaimer, but I'll wrote it anyway: I do not own any of the original characters, only Lyra!_

_ Good reading! :)_

* * *

After dinner, they decided to watch a film in the living room, where they ended up falling asleep.

In the middle of the night, Rose woke up and looked around to see everyone still sleeping soundly on the floor in front of the large TV screen.

_'I should go fetch some blankets upstairs, it's getting cold and the floor is kind of uncomfortable to sleep on...'_ she got up and climbed the stairs to the wardrobe in front of Lily's room, where she thought the blankets would be.

Since Rose knew the house like the back of her hand, she didn't need to turn on the lights. However she regretted her decision almost instantly the moment she inhaled his scent. Her breath hitched and he laughed leaning to her ear.

"Do I really affect you that much?" Scorpius asked satisfied to know he also had an effect on her.

The red-haired scoffed "No! Only a fool would be affected by you!" she turned around facing him with her arms crossed.

Scorpius laughed again circling her waist with his arms "Then I'm sorry to break it to you, but you're clearly a fool." he retorted smirking causing Rose to look at him offended and surprised "You're so sexy when you're angry... did you know that?". She raised an eyebrow at his confession, secretly urging him to continue "Your eyes start sparkling, your face gets flushed and sometimes you bite you lip to control yourself."

"Huh, are you high or something?" she asked nervously trying to regain the control she felt was lost by each second in his arms.

"Are you nervous Rosie?" he ignored her comment leaning closer.

"Don't call me that!" she snapped at him "And get away from me!" she demanded trying in vain to push him away.

"No!" his aggressive tone stopped Rose "You never complained before... so why start now?!" he smirked trying to get her angrier "In fact, I thought we were on a first-name basis, since you scream mine in the thrills of passion..." the blond said inching even closer, their lips almost touching.

She slapped him whisper-yelling " .that! It was a mistake! Nothing more!", hoping he wouldn't see her blushing madly at the comment.

Although he didn't show it, Scorpius was a little hurt by her attitude. So he decided to make her confess what they both knew was the truth and grabbed her chin "Hey, look at me!" he demanded "If it was a _mistake_, as you so nicely put it, why did you come to me more than once?" he finished looking curiously at her.

Rose didn't answer but lowered her eyes to stare at his chest.

_'I need to get out of here and fast! You knew this could happen, oh why are you so stupid Rose?!'_

"You may claim that you don't like it but you clearly do. Your body reacts to me, I _feel_ it..." he whispered softly to her ear "I feel the way you shiver when I touch you..." brushing his nose against her jaw causing her to sigh at the feeling "And when you sigh like that, I have to control myself not to do something stupid". He looked her in the eyes caressing her right cheek with the back of his left hand and the young woman narrowed her eyes trying to decipher the feelings present in his...

But, before any of them could understand what happened, the lights turned on and Lily's voice could be heard from the top of the stairs "Rose? Where are you?"

Rose and Scorpius backed away from each other looking surprised. _'Oh thank god there's a wall and she can't see us!'_, then she snapped out of her thoughts and ran towards her dear cousin.

"There you are!" Lily exclaimed frowning when she looked at a flushed and deeply upset Rose "Are you okay?"

"Yes, don't worry..." she answered running down the stairs _'I need to talk to Lyra...'_.

"Wait! Who are you running away from?" the younger cousin joked, but stopped instantly seeing the panicked expression on Rose's face "Oh Rose, what happened? Please tell me, you're making me worried!"

"Nothing. Don't worry, please. It's really nothing." she tried her best to smile "I have to go now, I'm sorry!" said Rose leaving the house swiftly.

"Rose wait! In the middle of the night?" asked a very confused Lily, but Rose was already out the door.

"What are all the screams about?!" Hugo asked sleepy.

"What happened? And where are Rose and Scorpius?!" asked an equally confused Albus.

As if on cue, Scorpius came down the stairs with a hurt expression on his face and Albus saw him, still trying to understand was happening "Oh there you are! Where's Rose?"

"Scorpius?! You were upstairs with Rose?" When someone said Rose's name, he snapped out of his train of thoughts and looked at a very confused Albus and a _furious_ _Lily?_ "What did you do to her, han? What did you do to make her react like that?!"

"What? I don't know! I mean, I was there and I don't even know what happened!" explained a bewildered Scorpius.

Hugo asked "Okay? Can someone please explain me what the hell is going on?"

Lily looked at him, then at Scorpius "Start talking."

_ "Rose? Why are you calling me IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT?!"_ Lyra, Rose's best friend since high school, said furious with the interruption of her precious hours of sleep.

"I need to talk to you, can I come over?"

_ "Uh-oh, I don't like that voice... what happened?"_

"I'll explain everything. Be there in 10 minutes, okay?"

_ "Uh, fine, you woke me up anyways..."_

Twenty minutes later, Rose was curled up on her best friend's sofa, with Lyra patting her hair and trying to contain her laughter. Rose had just finished tell her everything including what almost occurred.

Lyra finally laughed "Wait a minute! Are you really freaking out because you _almost_ kissed Scorp and _finally_ realised that you like him?"

"I-I guess..." she looked up at Lyra's laughing face "And what do you mean with _'finally' _?"

Lyra smirked, then put up an angelic look "Oh, everyone knows you like each other... It's kind of obvious you know?"

Panic registered on Rose's face "Everyone?! But, I'm not even sure I like him, how can _you_ be?"

Lyra laughed at her friend's naïvety "Oh Rose! Those fights you have are purely sexual-tension. And you know that, otherwise you wouldn't have slept with him (more than once, might I add)" she took a look at Rose's shocked face "Oh, and when I say 'everyone', I mean me and Albus"

"He knows?! Oh god, how embarrassing!"

"He knew since the beginning. He saw you two kissing and doing stuff in his flat..." she smirked.

"He what?! Oh no, Al knew I was lying! No, no, no! What am I going to do now?"

Lyra laughed at how ridiculous Rose was being "Oh, what a tragedy! It's the end of the world!" she said dramatically pretending to faint.

Rose rolled her eyes at Lyra "Yeah, yeah, yeah... make fun of me. What a great friend you are..."

"Now seriously, what has to happen will, don't worry. If you like each other, you will be together. If not, there's more fish in the sea..." both women looked at each other and laughed.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Lily's house...

* * *

Scorpius and Albus were sitting on the balcony, looking at the breathtaking night view, lost in their own thoughts. Incapable of continuing the silence, Albus spoke:

"Listen, what is actually going on between you two?"

"I don't know... I mean, I think I like her, but who knows? I - This can be just physical attraction, can't it?"

Albus laughed "I think both of you passed that point a looooooooong time ago!"

Scorpius rolled his eyes but laughed along "I'll give her a day, then we'll talk..." he looked at the moon and sighed _'Oh Rose, you'll be the death of me someday...' _he thought with a small smile.

* * *

_ Okay, so this was chapter 2! I would like to explain some things: in the first chapter, I didn't include any author's note because I wanted to know if I should continue the story or not and I didn't know what to say... but I hope you liked it! I don't really know how much chapters this will have, because I'm still creating the story. Hope you like it, Please R&R :)_


	3. Chapter 3

_ Hi, guys! So, I took a lot more time to update this chapter (this week has been CRAZY! xD), because I was planning to structure it in a certain way but it wasn't possible to do it and publish today, so I had to change it a little. I'm traveling to Turkey tomorrow and I don't know if I'll be able to update another chapter anytime soon..._

_ But I hope you like it! And see you (kind of) in two weeks!_

* * *

The morning came too early for Rose's liking. She stretched getting up for her comfortable bed. She dressed her night robe and walked to the balcony. The bedroom had a very nice view to the landscape, where the first signs of life started to show. The sun was peeking through, slowly rising, as if afraid to show its brightness to the world. The mountains were still covered in snow while the valley got ready for the Spring's arrival, little flowers blossoming from the ground creating a colorful and extensive "rug" that stopped at the beginning of the garden. The forest at the base of the mountains was, as always, surrounded by wildlife, the birds singing beautiful melodies...

Oh how Rose loved the countryside! Being in contact with the nature was very relaxing and she surely needed that. Also, the fact that it was an isolated house, with no contact with other humans whatsoever, helped her loving it even more. She laughed remembering the times when she and Lyra spent the holidays there with their families while they were still in high-school, their walks in the forest, horse riding... She remembered being so happy at the end of the first day of school when they found out that their mothers knew each other from when they were in school together. She and Lyra have been best-friends ever since.

She shook her head at the memory, smiling like an idiot while picking up her ringing phone.

"Hello?" she asked already knowing who it was.

_"Rose, hi! Did I wake you? I was just calling to know if you are okay."_

"No, you didn't wake me. And I'm fine! Don't worry about me." Rose laughed "I just got up and looked at the beautiful morning view. That made me remember the fun times we used to spend in here on the holidays. Do you remember the forest... the horses...?"

_"How could I forget?! And the lake..."_

"Oh, the lake! I loved that place! Do you know if we can still go there? I have such fond memories of it..."

_"I think so... although you should ask Peter. He knows the place like no one else!"_

Rose laughed "I will! Anyway, isn't it too early for you to be up?"

_"It is, but I'm working early to be able to go there to keep you company!"_

"There's no need for that! I'm fine on my own!"

Lyra laughed sarcastically _"Sure you are! Look where that got you!"_

Rose sighed "Fine! When are you planning to come?"  
_"I don't know. Maybe at the end of the week..."_

"Thank you Lyra." she said in a quiet tone.

"For what?"

"For supporting me and for letting me stay at your house." she laughed "Both of them."

_"You know you can stay there for as long as you want, don't you? My mother travelled to Florence last week to be with my father, but she wouldn't mind anyway."_

"Thank you! And if you talk to her, say that I miss our talks, would you?"

Lyra laughed _"I'll let her know. She will love to hear that!"_ Both friends laughed remembering how much Eleanor Bianchi loved to speak. _"Rose? You're gonna have to talk to him eventually. Or are you planning to ignore him all your life?"_

There was a moment of silence then Rose spoke "I know, and I want to clear things up! I just need some time for myself... You understand, don't you?"

_"Of course I do! Just don't take too long, because he might not!" _Rose heard Lyra say something in the background to someone, then to her _"Sorry Rose, but I have to go! Duty calls!"_ she apologized.

"No problem! We'll talk later, okay?"

_"Okay. Bye! Be safe!"_

"I will, bye." Rose laughed.

In that moment, she heard someone knocking on her door.

"Yes? Come in!"

"Miss Rose! I heard voices and I wondered if you would be up!"

Rose laughed at Margaret, the cook and housekeeper, and walked towards her bending over to kiss the her cheeks.

"Margaret! It's been so long since the last time I saw you! You look even more beautiful, age is doing you good!"

The older woman laughed with tears of joy in her eyes "Oh Miss Rose, you're always so kind! What time did you arrive?" the women hugged each other.

"Last night. It was so late that everyone was already sleeping."

"Oh, but did you have enough hours of sleep, my dear?" The brunette asked worried.

"Yes, I couldn't sleep anyways..." she trailed off.

"Alright. Now come on, get dressed while I prepare breakfast!"

Rose laughed "Yes, ma'am!"

A few hours after sunrise, Scorpius was sitting on his favourite chair by the window, sipping on the hot tea he prepared, deeply nervous.

_'Today is the day. I'm going to talk to her, clear things between us and everything will be solved! Oh, who am I kidding?! She'll drive me crazy before all that!'_ he thought shaking his head at it with a little smile on his lips. Suddenly his phone started ringing.

"Hello Albus."

_"Good morning! So, are you going to see Rose?"_ he asked curious.

"Yes... we really need to clarify the situation. Do you know if she's still with Lyra or not?"

_"No...why?"_

"Well, I would prefer to have someone else in the room while I talked to her. You know, for safety, if she tries to kill me..." Scorpius replied with laughter present in his voice.

Albus laughed _"Yeah, good luck with that one, mate!"_

"I know! I have to go get ready. Bye Al!"

_"Bye!"_

Scorpius sighed _'Let's do this...'_

Half an hour later, he knocked on Rose's door. No one answered. He knocked two more times, getting always the same answer. _'Maybe she is with Lyra'_ he deduced, grabbing his phone and dialing Lyra's number.

_"Scorpius?"_

"Hi. Is Rose with you?" he asked impatiently.

Lyra hesitated _"No..."_

"Do you know where she is? Can you tell me? I need to speak to her. It's kind of urgent."

There was a long silence, then he heard Lyra sigh _"Listen Scorpius: I know where she is, but the only thing I can let you know is that she doesn't want to be found, specially by you, At least, not at this moment."_ she said carefully.

"But I need to clear things up! Please Lyra! Just do me this little favor and tell me where she is!" he pleaded.

Lyra huffed _"Meet me at my house in one hour. I'm not going to reveal you anything about Rose's location but you need to know a few things..."_

"Thank you Lyra! You're the best!" he exclaimed.

_"I know."_ she scoffed and rolled her eyes _"Just hurry up, my patience is already running thin." _she warned hanging up.

Exactly an hour later, Scorpius was waiting on the luxurious lounge area on the back of Lyra's house for her to emerge from the kitchen, sighing in relief when she did.

"So" the blond man started "are you going to tell me explain me anything or...?" he asked, taking the cup of tea from her hands and sipping on it to calm his nerves.

"Yes." Lyra paused analyzing his face "First, you need to know that she made me swear that I wouldn't tell you where she is." he sighed disappointed "But I can help you understand why Rose reacted the way she did." she paused remembering something and mumbling "Hum.. well, at least a part of the 'why'..."

He scowled but decided not to question "You mean _over_reacted." he retorted, making Lyra sigh.

"Well, you're certainly _not_ helping your case! She is confused, but most of all she's afraid!"

"Of what?! I realized I liked her at the same time she did and I didn't run away practically screaming my head off!"

"Her case is a little different..." she answered adverting her eyes to the grass at her feet.

Scorpius frowned "Different?" she nodded still looking down "Okay, what happened? Because this is not the first time someone says that and I want to know why." he demanded with a hint of desperation in his voice. "Please Lyra, tell me!" he exclaimed grabbing her hands.

Her expression seemed to falter a little "It's not my place to tell... Rose is the only one who can show you what happened before, not me." she shook her head determined.

The blond closed his eyes and sighed "Now, I'm officially worried." he stood up pacing around. Suddenly he turned around looking her in the eyes "Where is she?"

"I won't tell you." she looked down.

"Lyra, listen to me! Please!" he pleaded on his knees in front of her "I _need_ to know where she is! I can't sleep, my mind is filled with thoughts of her 24/7 and I lost appetite 24 hours! I'm going crazy and it's her fault!" he took a deep breath "And now you're telling me something serious happened to her and I'm even more worried! Tell me Lyra, please..." he confessed desperately grabbing her hands "Please..."

She looked down, mentally apologizing to her best-friend, before replying "Rose..." she sighed disappointed with herself for not keeping her mouth shut "...she is staying in my country house in Virginia Water. Albus knows the way..."

Scorpius looked at her and his whole face lit up "Thanks Lyra! I owe you!" he hugged her and stood up. He turned around with every intention of running away to find Rose before being interrupted by Lira's voice.

"Scorpius!"

"Yes?" he looked at her over his shoulder.

"Don't screw things up. And good luck!" she wished.

He smiled "I won't. And thanks." he turned his head and ran towards his car _'I'll definitely need it!'_. Scorpius sped up to Al's flat, the place where he knew he could find him.

(...)

The doorbell rang and minutes later a tall young man with curly brown hair and blue eyes opened the front door.

"Hey, Scorp! Did you talk to Rose? How did you manage to survive?!" he mocked grinning at his blond friend.

"Ah ah, very funny. And no, I didn't talk to her." he answered annoyed and entering the house to sit on the sofa.

"You didn't?!" he asked surprised while closing the door and sitting in front of his best-friend "Don't tell me you were scared!" he mocked again leaving Scorpius even more impatient and annoyed.

"No, I wasn't scared!" he rolled his eyes at his Al's theory "I couldn't find her. She is not here."

"What do you mean with «She is not here»?" Al asked even more surprised with the developments, or lack of, in his friend's life.

"I mean that she is not here. Not here, as in London."

"Then where is she?!"

"She is in Virginia Water"

"Lyra's country house..." Albus mumbled finally understanding what happened.

"Yes... And I need your help. You know where it is, don't you?" the blond asked expectantly for a positive answer.

"Yeah, we used to go there on the holidays. Beautiful place, very peaceful..." he replied with a thoughtful look.

"Al, focus! I don't care about the place, I just want to find your cousin and talk to her! Are you going to tell me how I can find the house or not?" he rolled his eyes and raised an eyebrow when his friend grinned.

"Better! I'll go with you!" he answered pleased with his idea.

"Fine, but hurry up!"

"Okay, I'll call Charles to let him know we're coming."

"Who's Charles?" he asked confused.

"Charles and his wife take care of the property when no one's there."

"Okay. Just ask him not to tell Rose that we're coming, or she might run..."

"Good idea!" he stoop up grabbing the phone from the table.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Lyra's country house...

* * *

"Miss Rose! Lunch is served!" Margaret alerted from the dining room.

"Be there in a minute!" she replied from her spot on the garden.

Rose sat against the stone wall with her knees up and her arms crossed on top of them looking at the horizon. The red-haired beauty was lost in her thoughts of her situation with Scorpius until she saw a hand stretched out at her. She looked up and saw a tall young man. A _shirtless_ young man with a muscular body, brown skin, chiseled features, short light-brown hair and green eyes. And to make him even more interesting, he had a sexy stubble that gave him an exotic look.

_'Scorpius who?' _she thought, a timid smile resting on her lips_ 'Damn! He's so hot that he should be considered illegal... wait a minute, I know him! Think Rose, think...'_

"Oh my god! Peter?!" she called him grabbing his hand and standing up with a surprised look.

"Hello Rose. Long time no see!" he smirked "What are you doing here alone?"

"Oh, you know, relaxing!" she laughed "And you! You look good! Like hot, really hot!" she acknowledged with wide eyes.

Peter laughed shaking his head "Oh Rose. Tsk tsk tsk" he mocked "You are way hotter! Time was clearly very good to you!" he winked.

"I can't believe it!" she confessed bewildered "You're flirting! Oh my god, what happened to the shy boy who was afraid to talk to girls?!" she asked with a mix of surprise and satisfaction.

Peter smirked "He grew up..." and laughed. "Yeah" I can see that!" she smirked directing her eyes to his muscular torso and laughing along.

"Peter! Stop distracting Miss Rose and bring her in for lunch!" demanded Margaret "Oh! And put a shirt on! I've warned you not to walk around shirtless on Winter!"

They both laughed "Yes mother!" he replied smirking.

The red-haired leaned in his ear whispering "She is more demanding than I remembered..."

Peter laughed and did the same as her "Welcome to my world... But come on, we better go before she kills me!" the pair laughed and walked in to the dining room.

"Miss Rose! It's so good to see you!" Charles said as he saw them.

"Charles! It's good to see you too! I've missed you!" she replied hugging the middle-aged man.

"We missed you too, everyone in the estate, including the horses." he said smiling "Ah! I see you've already met Peter again! My son grew up a lot since the last time you saw each other, didn't he?" he winked at Rose.

She laughed "Indeed... It was a very interesting change." she wiggled her brows making the other three laugh and sat at the table.

A few moments after they started eating, Charles phone rang. "I'm sorry, but I have to take this" the man apologized walking away from the room to another one for more privacy.

Peter frowned "That's strange. Who might it be?" and asked to the women, making they both shrug.

* * *

_As I said before, it wasn't suposed to end like this, but I will make it up to you next chapter :)_


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